Sankofa
The Sankofa - bird is a symbol that in the Akan religion ( Ivory Coast and Ghana , but) also other West African occurring groups and for learning from the past for a better future is.
The bird has turned its head on its back to catch its egg . For the Ashanti (Ghana), Sankofa means something like “when you look into the past, you recognize the future”. The memory and the opportunity to fall back on traditions should counteract forgetting and result in new options for the present and the future. The eminent Ghanaian historian Albert Adu Boahen named his publishing house, in which he published critical works on African history, after this symbolic being.
This symbol also plays in the Kawaida - philosophy of Maulana Karenga a role which form a tradition for the Black Freedom Movement worked in the 1960s. This approach has since been transported back to Europe and Africa via the African American community .
For example, various African and anti-racist educators use the symbol in their work, such as Aeeshah Ababio-Clottey and Kokomon Clottey in their anti-racism training “Beyond Fear”, the Black German Initiative in their SANKOFA holiday villages or the Ethiopian educator Ellani Tedla in their educational program “ Sankofa: African Thought and Education ".
Sankofa is also frequently referred to in culture . The film of the same name by Haile Gerima (1993) deals with the African history of colonialism and slavery . The jazz singer Cassandra Wilson sings about him on "Blue Light 'til Dawn" and a British film collective has named themselves after him. In addition, it is now also marketed in esoteric circles.